Ground or earth anchors have heretofore been devised for use in anchoring structures firmly to the ground. Exemplary of such are those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,969,853, 4,280,768, 4,593,872 and 4,653,245. Break-away sign posts have also been devised. Examples of these are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,875,720, 3,958,349, 4,071,970, 4,126,403, 4,310,979 and 4,364,688. Some ground anchors are designed to be manually embedded into the soil while others are designed to be mechanically embedded by the use of power tools known as anchor drivers. The present invention is directed to a ground or earth anchor of these types for the support of posts uprightly upon the surface of the ground. The invention is also directed to posts of break-away type construction.
As shown in the just mentioned patents, those ground anchors that are used to support large structures have themselves had to be of relatively large, complex and rugged construction in order to accommodate the large forces necessary to embed the anchors deeply and to provide sufficient anchoring power once embedded. Conversely, ground anchors that have been devised for supporting smaller structures such as fence posts, guard rails, tent posts and the like have been relatively simple, lightweight and usually designed for manual installation. Heretofore, it has generally been thought that ground anchors for post have had to be of the manual embedding type to render them economically feasible. The problem most commonly associated with break-away posts has been that they are designed to break or swing away when impacted from a particular direction. In reality, such posts are often struck from other directions, particularly where they are not the first object struck in an accident.
The present invention has for a principal object the provision of a ground anchor for use in supporting posts uprightly upon the surface of the ground which is of relatively simple and economic construction and yet which is adapted to be readily installed. With its use the labor involved in digging post holes or in manually embedding an anchor may be reduced or even eliminated. Its use also eliminates the need for the use of concrete in forming an in situ anchor about the post and thus also serves to eliminate the waiting period for concrete to set in order to complete installation. The inventive break-away post is designed to break away equally well regardless of the direction from which a jolt is applied to it.